The council decision to suspend Liverpool’s bus lanes was “rushed” and could damage the city economically and socially, according to a transport institute.

The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transports (CILT UK) described the trial as an “ill considered experiment” in a response to Liverpool City Council’s consultation on the scheme.

The city’s bus lane restrictions were lifted for a nine-month period last October.

But according to CILT UK the evidence used to come to the decision was deficient – making it impossible to properly evaluate the impact of the trial.

Chairman of the institute’s bus and coach forum Austin Birks said: “The Mayor of Liverpool’s desire to review the effectiveness of bus lanes is perfectly commendable, but it does require a clear rationale which is plainly lacking here.

“The decision to suspend them appears rushed and based on flimsy ‘evidence’ that is mainly predicated on a discredited approach, i.e reviewing movements by vehicle rather than by person.

“We urge the city council and its mayor to terminate what appears to be an ill-considered experiment before any greater damage is done to the city’s reputation as a competent local highway authority; to the city’s economy; and to the ability of local bus operators in the area to achieve the reliability required of them by their customers and by the Traffic Commissioners.

“In a city with lower than average car ownership but also growing tourism, the prospect of permanently removing all bus lanes has the potential to damage the city economically and socially.”

The institute also said the experiment contravened national policies, prejudiced the ability of bus operators to run services and risked setting an unfortunate precedent for other towns and cities.

Earlier this month Mayor Anderson said it was too early to say whether the scheme had made a difference to traffic flow in the city.

Figures show that motorists spent an average of 39 hours stuck in traffic jams in Merseyside in 2013.